Clutch for printing device

ABSTRACT

Clutch means for controlling the repositioning of one or more repositionable printing devices such as indicia carrying bands is provided in which the printing device is carried on engageable means which are in turn mounted on the clutch means. The clutch means comprises a camming means and a contacting means, the camming means being adapted to move the contacting means into engagement with the engageable means to permit the repositioning of the printing device.

United States Patent Carboni et al.

154] CLUTCH FOR PRINTING DEVICE [72] Inventors: Victor B. Carboni, SanFrancisco; Jack Dale Pavlovic, Oakland, both of Calif.

[73] Assignee: Consolidated Foods Corporation,

Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Oct. 22, 1970 211 Appl. No.: 82,960

[52] US. Cl. ..192/48.91, 192/44, 192/72, 192/95, 74/372, 101/105,101/111 [51] Int. Cl. ..Fl6d 21/02, B41j 27/02 [58] Field of Search..10l/105,106, 110,111; l92/48.8, 48.9, 48.91, 48.92, 44, 72, 95;74/371, 372

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,482,512 12/1969 Jung..101/110 2,698,545 l/1955 Pethybridge ..74/371 X 686,509 11/1901Crandall ,.101/111 51 Aug. 8, 1972 940,186 11/1909 Otteson ..l0l/l1OX1,015,254 l/l9l2 Whisler ..192/48.9 X 1,081,092 12/1913 Chalmers..74/371 1,868,040 7/1932 Wise .74/372 X 2,101,444 12/1937 Miles..101/111 2,273,807 2/1942 Woytych 1 92/488 Primary Examiner-Allan D.Herrmann Altomey-Bierman & Biemian, Harry C. Bierman and Jordan B.Bierman [5 7 ABSTRACT Clutch means for controlling the repositioning ofone or more repositionable printing devices such as indicia carryingbands is provided in which the printing device is carried on engageablemeans which are in turn mounted on the clutch means. The clutch meanscomprises a camming means and a contacting means, the camming meansbeing adapted to move the contacting means into engagement with theengageable means to permit the repositioning of the printing device.

9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures CLUTCH FOR PRINTING DEVICE This inventionrelates generally to clutch means for controlling the engagement anddisengagement of a driven device and, more specifically, to controllingthe engagement and disengagement of driving and driven gears in aprinting apparatus.

In accordance with the present invention, a novel clutching means isprovided which is adapted for selective engagement of one or moreengageable means such as a gear: The gear is carried on a shaft which inturn movably carries the clutch means therein. The clutch meanscomprises caming means and a contacting means associated therewith. Thecontacting means are adapted to be pressed between the cam upon movementthereof and the engageable means to couple the hollow shaft to theengageable means so that, when the shaft is rotated, the engageablemeans is rotated conjointly therewith.

The clutch means of the present invention is particularly adapted foruse in handprinting devices which utilize a number of separate indiciacarrying members where individual movement of the indicia carryingmembers must be provided for. Examples of such printing devices arestandard, readily available commercial printing devices, i.e.,conventional changeable date stamps, pricing stamps and the like.Although the present invention is most particularly adapted for use insmaller printing devices, it may be used in any printing devicerequiring selective engagement of various indicia carrying members andit may further be used generally as a clutch in any type of apparatusrequiring a clutch regardless of whether such apparatus in additionrequires the clutch to have a selective engagement capability.

Referring now to the drawings in which like numerals refer to likeparts:

FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a handprinting apparatus in which theclutch means of the present invention is particularly useful;

FIG. 2 is a perspective detailed view taken along Line 22 of FIG. 1showing the clutch means of the present invention in position to engagea driving gear;

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the clutch means shown in FIG. 2 in whichthe clutch means is shown in disengaged position;

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the clutch means in FIG. 2 showing theclutch means in engaged position.

Referring now to FIG. 1: FIG. 1 shows a hand stamp denoted generally bythe numeral 10. The hand stamp is of generally conventional constructionand comprises a handle 12 mounted on a frame 14. Frame 14 has mountedthereon a plurality of indicia carrying bands 16, each individuallymovable to bring different indicia into printing position by means laterdescribed. Control of the movement of the individualindicia carryingbands 16 is controlled by a shaft 18 which is adapted upon movementthereof to selectively engage one or more of the indicia carrying bands.

Referring now to FIG. 2: The selective movement of the indicia carryingbands 16 can be more readily understood by referring to the enlargedview of FIG. 2. As seen in FIG. 2, the indicia carrying band 16 ismounted on a driven gear 20 which is in turn fixedly mounted on arotatable shaft 22. Rotatable shaft 22 is freely journaled in frame 14to permit rotation of driven gear 20. Mounted in frame 14 belowrotatable shaft 22 is a shaft l8. Shaft 18 is, in addition, carried in ahollow rotatable shaft 24 which in turn carries a driving gear 26.Driving gear 26 is preferably loosely journaled in hollow rotatableshaft 24 for reasons described below.

Shaft 18 in the region of driving gear 26 is provided with a recessedsurface 28 in which is carried a spherical ball 30. Hollow rotatableshaft 24 is provided with a slot 32 which extends the greater part ofthe axial length of the hollow rotatable shaft 24. The spherical ball 30rides in this slot as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and in the position ofshaft 18 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 the spherical ball 30 is maintained outof contact with the inner surface 34 of driving gear 26.

As stated above, shaft 18 is rotatable with respect to hollow rotatableshaft 24. Upon rotation of shaft 18 in the direction of arrow 36 in FIG.4, the recessed surface 28 will be rotated and the spherical ball 30will be moved upwardly in slot 32 into contact with inner surface 34 ofgear 26. As pressure is applied by continued rotation of shaft 18,spherical ball 30 will positively engage driving gear 26 and hollowrotatable shaft 24 to cause both to rotate in the direction of the arrow38 in FIG. 2. Rotation of driving gear 26 will, of course, rotate drivengear 20 to move the indicia carrying band 16. The rotation of shaft 18may be continued until the proper indicia is brought to the desiredlocation; for example, the bottom surface of the stamp shown in FIG. 1.Of course, another gear such as 40 (FIG. 1) is used to tension theindicia carrying band 16 so that rotation of the driven gear 20 willcause movement of the indicia carrying band 16.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 show the operation of the novel clutch means of thepresent invention with one set of driven and driving gears. The uniqueclutch means of the present invention is easily adapted to selectivelyengage one of a number of indicia carrying bands without disturbing thesetting of the others. More specifically, this is achieved by providingan axial adjustment capability of the shaft 18 in the direction of thearrow 42 (FIG. 2). To control the axial position of the shaft 18, a bore44 is provided in frame 14. A spring loaded set screw 46 is mounted inthe bore 44 and is adapted to engage a plurality of notches 48 placed onthe circumference of the shaft 18. The notches 48 correspond todifferent indicia carrying bands 16 and may be so marked. It can readilybe appreciated that, when the shaft 18 is in the position in FIGS. 2 and3, it can be moved axially to engage any one of the three indiciacarrying bands 16 shown in FIG. 1 to selectively and individually moveeach of the indicia carrying bands 16 without disturbing the position ofany of the other indicia carrying bands.

Although only one embodiment of the clutch means of the instantinvention has been depicted and described above, it will be apparentthat many other forms of clutch means embodying the general principle ofthe instant invention may be used. For example, instead of a recessedcam surface as shown, the cam surface may constitute a raised projectionon the shaft 18 such that, when the shaft is axially moved, thespherical ball 30 will be caused to move upwardly on the cam surface toengage driving gear 26. In such case, it is not necessary to rotateshaft 18 to cause the spherical ball 30 to engage the driving gear. Thesame notches 48 may be utilized to locate the shaft 18 for each specificindicia carrying band 16 but the notches 48 will have greater axiallength to permit the axial movement necessary to cause the sphericalball 30 to engage the driving gear. If desired, a detent may be providedin each elongated notch 48 to releasably lock the shaft in its cammingposition to permit movement of the indicia carrying band. Although gearshave been shown for moving indicia carrying bands, it is contemplatedthat other types of engageable means such as friction couplings may beutilized instead. Still further, it is not necessary to utilize indiciacarrying bands and, in some cases, it may be desirable to place theindicia directly on the land area of the individual gear teeth.

It will be apparent that many modifications of the above-describedembodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art and it isintended to cover all such modifications which do not depart from thespirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus of the type having one or more engageable meanstherein for controlling the positioning of one or more printing devices,the improvement comprising a clutch means for controlling engagement ofsaid engageable means, said clutch means comprising camming meansadapted for association with at least one of said engageable means, saidcamming means comprising a rotatable shaft having a cam recess in itssurface, contacting means associated with said recess for contacting atleast one said engageable means, said camming means being moveablebetween a first position in which said contacting means is in contactwith said at least one engageable means to permit movement of the saidprinting device and a second position in which said contacting means isout of contact with said at least one engageable means.

2. The apparatus specified in claim ll wherein said contacting means iscarried on said cam surface.

3. The apparatus specified in claim 2 wherein said contacting means is aspherical ball.

4. The apparatus specified in claim 1 wherein said engageable means aregears.

5. The apparatus specified in claim 1 further comprising a rotatablehollow shaft, said camming means being carried in said rotatable hollowshaft and being adapted to move between said first and second positionsindependently of said hollow shaft, at least one of said engageablemeans being mounted on said hollow shaft and covering said contactingmeans, said camming means upon movement from said second to said firstposition being adapted to wedge said contacting means against said atleast one engageable means to permit the movement of said printingdevice.

6. The apparatus specified in claim 5 wherein there are at least twosaid printing devices and separate engageable means for controlling thepositioning of each said printing device, said hollow shaft having anelongated slot therein for carrying said contacting means, said cammingmeans being carried inside said hollow shaft and being rotatable withrespect to said hollow shaft, said camming means being axially movablein said hollow shaft and in said slot for selectively engaging theengageable means associated with each printing device whereby eachprinting device is repositionable individually.

. The apparatus specified in claim 6 wherein said camming meanscomprises a rotatable shaft having a cam surface thereon, and whereinsaid camming means is a spherical ball carried on said rotatable shaftand within said slot.

8. The apparatus specified in claim 1 wherein there are more than oneengageable means and wherein said camming means is selectively movableinto operative association with anyone of said engageable means.

9. A printing apparatus comprising one or more printing devices and arotatable shaft on which said printing devices are mounted, oneengageable means for each said printing device, a second rotatableshaft, said engageable means being loosely mounted on said second shaftand in engagement with at least one printing device, clutch means, saidclutch means comprising a camming means adapted for selectiveassociation with any one of said engageable means, said clutch meansbeing mounted on said second shaft, contacting means associated withsaid camming means for selectively contacting one said engageable means,said camming means being moveable between a first position in which saidcontacting means is in contact with said at least one engageable meanssuch that upon rotation of said second rotatable shaft said cammingmeans is moved into engagement with a selected one of said engageablemeans to cause said engageable means and its associated printing deviceto move to a different position, said movement being limited only to theparticular engageable means and its associated printing device, and asecond position in which said contacting means is out of contact withany of said engageable means.

1. In an apparatus of the type having one or more engageable meanstherein for controlling the positioning of one or more printing devices,the improvement comprising a clutch means for controlling engagement ofsaid engageable means, said clutch means comprising camming meansadapted for association with at least one of said engageable means, saidcamming means comprising a rotatable shaft having a cam recess in itssurface, contacting means associated with said recess for contacting atleast one said engageable means, said camming means being moveablebetween a first position in which said contacting means is in contactwith said at least one engageable means to permit movement of the saidprinting device and a second position in which said contacting means isout of contact with said at least one engageable means.
 2. The apparatusspecified in claim 1 wherein said contacting means is carried on saidcam surface.
 3. The apparatus specified in claim 2 wherein saidcontacting means is a spherical ball.
 4. The apparatus specified inclaim 1 wherein said engageable means are gears.
 5. The apparatusspecified in claim 1 further comprising a rotatable hollow shaft, saidcamming means being carried in said rotatable hollow shaft and beingadapted to move between said first and second positions independently ofsaid hollow shaft, at least one of said engageable means being mountedon said hollow shaft and covering said contacting means, said cammingmeans upon movement from said second to said first position beingadapted to wedge said contacting means against said at least oneengageable means to permit the movement of said printing device.
 6. Theapparatus specified in claim 5 wherein there are at least two saidprinting devices and separate engageable means for controlling thepositioning of each said printing device, said hollow shaft having anelongated slot therein for carrying said contacting means, said cammingmeans being carried inside said hollow shaft and being rotatable withrespect to said hollow shaft, said camming means being axially movablein said hollow shaft and in said slot for selectively engaging theengageable means associated with each printing device whereby eachprinting device is repositionable individually.
 7. The apparatusspecified in claim 6 wherein said camming means comprises a rotatableshaft having a cam surface thereon, and wherein said camming means is aspherical ball carried on said rotatable shaft and within said slot. 8.The apparatus specified in claim 1 wherein there are more than oneengageable means and wherein said camming means is selectively movableinto operative association with anyone of said engageable means.
 9. Aprinting apparatus comprising one or more printing devices and arotatable shaft on which said printing devices are mounted, oneengageable means for each said printing device, a Second rotatableshaft, said engageable means being loosely mounted on said second shaftand in engagement with at least one printing device, clutch means, saidclutch means comprising a camming means adapted for selectiveassociation with any one of said engageable means, said clutch meansbeing mounted on said second shaft, contacting means associated withsaid camming means for selectively contacting one said engageable means,said camming means being moveable between a first position in which saidcontacting means is in contact with said at least one engageable meanssuch that upon rotation of said second rotatable shaft said cammingmeans is moved into engagement with a selected one of said engageablemeans to cause said engageable means and its associated printing deviceto move to a different position, said movement being limited only to theparticular engageable means and its associated printing device, and asecond position in which said contacting means is out of contact withany of said engageable means.